The present invention relates to a foldable container, such as a garment box. In particular the present invention relates to a garment box for containing a product, such as a clothing item on a clothes hanger with secure retention of the head of the clothes hanger within a double walled enclosure element of the garment box.
Garments such as shirts, dresses, jackets, skirts, pants, etc can be shipped in a box with the clothing items already placed on clothes hangers. It is known that some means is required to secure the clothes hangers which bears the clothing in place within a garment box so that movement of the clothes hangers is restricted or prevented, otherwise the clothing can curl up and wrinkle. If the clothes hangers are free to move about, even though confined within a sealed garment box, the clothing can become wrinkled, disarranged, and disheveled. Furthermore, if lacking suitable restraining means, the head of a clothes hanger can, during handling and shipment of the garment box, insert itself, tear and/or score clothing items. Thus, attention in the art has been directed in the art to finding suitable means for anchoring the clothes hanger heads in a manner which still permits ready placement and packing of clothes hangers bearing clothing into the garment box and a facile removal of the clothes hangers bearing the clothing items by the recipient of the packed garment box.
The garment box disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,169 provides an enclosure for a hanger within a garment box. The enclosure into which the clothes hanger fits is formed by folding over a single panel, a portion of which single panel is positioned under a strikeout or raised tab portion of a second fold over panel. Such an arrangement is inherently unstable and can come apart, freeing the clothes hangers during shipment, because the hanger enclosure used in the '169 patent lacks any bullock or supporting wall within the hanger enclosure and additionally, the hanger enclosure consists of a single, unsupported panel held in place by the small strikeout of a second panel which lies flat on the bottom of the '169 patent's garment box and which is not interlocked into the first fold over panel. Additionally, the garment box disclosed by the '169 patent inserts the heads of clothes hangers into the hollow behind the single walled enclosure by inserting the clothes hanger heads into large central opening at the top of a slot adjacent to a "tongue-like element." Unfortunately, the presence of such a large central opening in proximity to the heads of the clothes hangers considerably facilitates a displacement of the clothes hanger heads out of their retaining slot during handling and shipment of the packed garment box.
Furthermore, the '169 patent garment box lacks any reinforcing, spacing or bulwark walls to help maintain the shape and integrity of the enclosure for the clothes hanger heads during shipment and handling of the packed garment box. The garment container disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,371 discloses a hollow end wall structure adapted to receive a plurality of garment hangers. Only that portion of the hanger head enclosure of the '371 patent in the immediate vicinity of the slot for receiving the heads of clothes hangers is double walled. Furthermore, the hanger head enclosure of the garment container disclosed by the '371 patent lacks any reinforcing, spacing or bulwark walls and has the same disadvantageous large, central opening at the same location and for the same purpose as present in the '169 patent.
Thus, while garment boxes with clothes hanger head enclosures are known, the existing garment boxes have many drawbacks and deficiencies. Known garment box hanger head enclosures lack means to obscure the entire hanger head from the clothing and lack sufficient or suitable hanger head enclosure reinforcement or spacer walls so that the enclosure can maintain its integrity during the rigors of handling and shipment, such as can occur during for an international clothing shipment where there are multiple traffic points and stresses forced upon the garment box.
What is needed therefor is a garment box suitable for shipping clothing in which garment box there is a clothes hanger head enclosure which can securely hold clothes hangers in place during shipment and transport of the garment box and which clothes hanger head enclosure can maintain its shape and integrity during the rigors of garment box handling and shipment.